n Addictive Drug

            Think of someone who usually drinks coffee, soda, tea or eats chocolate in the morning just to start off their day with a boost of energy. Now, usually if that person does not take in enough caffeine they will eventually feel side effects such as headaches, irritability, or drowsiness (Roberts). Why do so many Americans get addicted to caffeine?

 The article, “How Caffeine Works”, written by Marshall Brain, says that approximately ninety percent of Americans consume caffeine in a day. Caffeine is known as an addictive drug called trimethylxanthine. Caffeine is used as a cardiac stimulant and is also used to provide a “boost of energy” or a feeling of hyperness. College students and drivers use caffeine to stay awake late into the night. Many people feel as though they cannot function in the morning without a cup of coffee to provide caffeine and the boost it gives them. More than half of American adults ingest over three hundred milligrams of caffeine every day, which makes this drug America’s most popular drug (Brain) 

Even though caffeine is an addictive drug it operates using the same mechanisms that other drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin use to stimulate the brain. On the spectrum of the brain, caffeine’s affects are milder than amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin, but it is operating the same controls, which gives the caffeine its addictive qualities (Brain). If a person feels like he/she cannot function without it, and must have some sort of caffeine everyday, then that person is addicted.

In the brain, adenosine, which is a nucleoside that is present in all living cells in a combined form; a part of DNA and RNA, is created and attaches to adenosine receptors, which regulates the metabolic balance between energy supply and is required in the central nervous system. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in the cell and is capable of self-replication and synthesis of RNA. RNA (ribonucleic acid) is polymeric element of all living cells and many viruses, consisting of a long, usually single-stranded chain of alternating phosphate and ribose.

When the adenosine is attached, this causes drowsiness by slowing down the nerve cells and also causes blood vessels to expand. To a nerve cell, caffeine looks like adenosine. Caffeine binds to the adenosine receptor and so the cell cannot see the adenosine because caffeine is taking up all the receptors adenosine binds to. So, the cells start to speed up instead of slowing down the adenosine level. Then the pituitary glands, which is a small endocrine gland attached to the vertebrate brain and consisting of an anterior and a posterior lobe, which control the other endocrine glands and influence growth, metabolism, and maturation, release hormones to tell the adrenal glands, which are either of a pair of complex endocrine glands placed near the kidney to produce adrenaline. Adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the adrenal medulla in response to stress, which stimulates the autonomic nerve action. This explains why after drinking or eating something with caffeine in it, your hands get cold; your muscles tense up, and you may feel excited and your heartbeat is beating faster and faster.

So now a person can see why their body might like caffeine, especially when they are low on sleep and need to remain active. Caffeine stops adenosine reception so they feel alert. It injects adrenaline into their system to help give them a boost. Once the adrenaline wears off, they are going to be tired and so they take more caffeine to get the adrenaline going. This is why so many Americans consume caffeine every day. Once they get in the habit of taking in caffeine, they have to keep taking the drug. When they try to stop themselves from taking caffeine, they will get tired and possibly terrible headaches, fatigue, muscle pain, insomnia, nausea, depression, irritability, vomiting, ringing in the ears, and difficulty on concentrating (Abramovitz).  To prevent these symptoms, they will go back to caffeine even though they want to stop themselves from going back to the addictive drug.